Meet Zoltan Istvan, The Mystic Who’s Running for President

Forget about being able to evolve beyond this mortal coil, this story is even bolder. It’s about a person you probably never heard of…until now. Zoltan Istvan is a journalist, futurist, author, mystic, and is the 2016 Presidential candidate of the Transhumanist Party. Forget Hillary’s comprehensive agenda on health care, or Trump’s ‘huge’…wall (this blog is PG 13 people!), the leader of the Transhumanist party wants something way more cooler for the American people, and in fact, the world. According to Istvan, the central premise of the Transhumanist party is to help normal people (that’s you and me!) overcome death, and he plans on doing that with some good ol’ fashioned science and technology.

To Istvan, there is no problem too big for science, and the 43-year old who’s also funding his own campaign has some pretty big plans for the future. Raised in California, Istvan’s party has gained a lot of popularity over the past few months mainly because of his quirky campaigning style, which involves driving a bus that’s painted as a coffin across America with his trusty sidekicks Jethro, a robot (that’s right), and a Russian think tank who froze his mother’s brain (FYI: she was already dead), and a fantastical vision of the future (we like this guy already!).

Istvan has lived a life of adventure. He has travelled to more than 100 countries as a journalistfor the National Geographic Channel. He has also written numerous articles and blogs for famous websites such as The Huffington Post, Newsweek, The San Francisco Chronicle, Slate, Wired, and The Daily Mail. Istvan has also been featured on many television channels such as BBC, CNN, and Fox News. He has graduated in philosophy and religious studies from the Columbia University and currently resides in San Francisco with his wife and two daughters.

There are currently around 2 million members of the Transhumanist party spread around the world. Transhumanists believe in the scientific concept of ‘Singularity’ which suggests the continued leaps of progress in power until the time comes that absolutely nothing will be beyond reach. In other words, Singularity is a theorized future point in which advanced computing will eventually become smart enough to build, adapt, and improve itself. And ultimately result in humans being able to achieve eternal life via a biological / AI fusion.

While the theory seems far-fetched, some of the largest companies at Silicon Valley are actively pursuing aims that are in line with the Transhumanist memo. For instance, Google is already investing in research to find a cure for aging and has hired Singularity theorist, Ray Kurzweil to design its Artificial Intelligent project. Sergey Brin and Mark Zuckerberg also fund the Breakthrough Prize, which awards $3 million for the funding of technologies for life extension. Peter Diamandis, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk are pouring billions of their own fortune into the Space X program, while Larry Page has announced of leaving his vast fortune to Musk to further his quest for populating Mars someday. And these are just a few of Silicon Valley’s companies and CEOs that are working to fulfill the Transhumanist dream.

To many of these CEOs, the vision of redefining what it means to be human is not an idealist’s pipedream, it’s possible, probable, and can be achieved through technology. And it’s only a matter of time before we are able to achieve this vision. As of now, Istvan is trailing right behind the Libertarian Party’s candidate Gary Johnson, and the Green Party’s Jill Stein in the 2016 US Presidential Election campaign.